Ernesto Esquer, a photographic artist and printer from Tucson, Arizona, actively works in all aspects of traditional darkroom photography and various alternative processes including cyanotype and lumen prints. His extensive experience includes working with instant film including materials made by Polaroid, Fujifilm, and Impossible Project and he teaches instant film manipulations. Often Ernesto combines processes or materials to transform a photograph into a precious object.
He received a BFA in Photography from the University of Arizona and currently works as a Laboratory Specialist at Pima Community College. Most recently he was the printer and curatorial assistant for the Louis Carlos Bernal exhibition Arizona, Unseen: Color Photographs 1978-1988. His first book, In No Time, released by Dark Spring Press in 2017, features a collection of hand colored or toned gelatin silver prints.
Process Statement
In my tea toned gelatin silver prints, the photographs were immersed in a variety of black teas to give them their distinct, aged look. All of the prints were then painted with gold sumi-e watercolor around the edges.
I created emulsion lifts using Polaroid, Fujifilm, and Impossible Project films, by lifting the instant film emulsions and transferring them onto a variety of pre-painted or pre-gold leaf watercolor and printmaking papers.
Toned gelatin silver prints and emulsion lifts
